Relics of the Corrupted Past
by WordsfromAshes
Summary: Vriska sends Terezi into an old trial cavern while FLARPing, where Terezi finds more than just a new pair of glasses. But evidence to a corrupted mysterious trial that makes Terezi question justice.


GC: VR1SK4, WHY 4M 1 H3R3 4G41N?

Terezi looked around the cavernous room she was currently in and shivered slightly. It reminded her too much of the caverns they had to fight and prove their worth in as wrigglers. The place where she had to stay an abnormal amount of time due to the unborn lusus issue.

But this room was different. She was here for FLARPing. Supposedly.

She was caught up in a fit of old memories and the sight of the cold long abandoned room in front of her currently, so when there was a sharp _ping_ of Trollian, she jumped. A nervous cackle erupted feebly from her as she reached to view the message.

AG: 8ecause.

She groaned and was tempted to just throw the device in aggravation but decided against that and to reveal her irritation to her partner instead.

GC: =\

Leave it to Vriska to intentionally not answer a question.

She continued on her search of the place. Terezi gripped her cane-kind tightly as she walked around. There were shadows everywhere and she couldn't be too careful. Even though it was unlikely there would be other trolls here, (Honestly, she thought, no troll in their right mind would come here even for FLARPing purposes.) one could never be too careful of creatures that could be lurking about. It felt sinister in there already without any confirmation of anything else residing in there anyway. Something that Terezi couldn't exactly place, but knew was bad.

Cautiously, she ventured out into an open area where seats seemed to be carved out of the wall to form an arena of sorts. Terezi stopped and stared at her surroundings.

_Ping!_

Terezi pealed her eyes away from the stands and looked at her messages.

AG: Whaaaaaaaat?

GC: YOU D1DNT 4NSW3R MY QU3ST1ON! =\

AG: What?

GC: VR1SK4!

AG: Fiiiiiiiine.

AG: I thought you would like to check it out.

AG: It used to 8e a place for trials or something like that. I figured that's up your way.

AG: I thought it would be nice thing to do. I caaaaaaaan 8e nice sometiiiiiiiimes. ::::)

Terezi stared at the Trollian chat and then back at her surroundings. Everything began to click and make sense. The seats she had seen was where the jury and spectators would sit.

That meant—the Libra grinned, showing off her mouthful of sharp teeth. That meant where she stood now, on a strip of walkway, was where legislacerators from times before her would stand and demand justice. This would be her future and she _liked_ it.

She walked up and down the pathway acting as if a crowd was watching and cheering for her and her case.

GC: TH4NKS 1 GU3SS.

GC: HOW D1D YOU KNOW TH1S PL4C3 3X1ST3D?

GC: 1T W4S 1N TH4T BOOK, W4SNT 1T?

GC: TH3 BOOK YOU DON'T L3T 4NYONE S33

AG: Noooooooo.

GC: VR1SK4 YOU C4NT L

The Libra hit 'send' prematurely as she screamed and struggled to get out of the grip of whatever held her, only to successfully trip over the red slits of her FLARPing outfit. She landed on the ground and the breath was knocked out of her air sac.

AG: Can't what?

AG: Terezi.

AG: Can't whaaaaaaaat?

AG: ?

AG: Answer me already!

AG: Fine! It was from that 8ook! Are you h8ppy now?

AG: Don't answer then.

AG: If you were killed 8y some 8east, don't 8lame me.

AG: I was 8eing nice, remem8er.

AG: I was just trying to show you your true potential.

Terezi ignored the _ping_ after _ping_ that Vriska was sending her as she stared up at the disintegrating noose that was currently swinging precariously above her. It had gotten caught on her horns but…. She reached up with a gloved hand and rubbed her throat. If she was any taller or if the noose had been hanging any lower then surely she would have felt the other end of justice that she wished never to experience.

She didn't care what Vriska told her—stories of supposed ancestors. Her caste never did and never will experience being hanged. Her blood kind was never unjust enough. They were the ones who enforced justice.

Putting those thoughts out of her mind she began to pick herself up from the ground when she noticed a glint of red that she almost had stepped on. Instead, she picked up the object and peered at them, holding them up in the air, very glad she hadn't stepped on them afterall.

They were dirty, yes. But she could tell with a little cleaning that the sleek pair of glasses would make her ensemble perfect. She cackled to herself as she rubbed them off on her costume and placed them delicately on the bridge of her nose. Everything was tinted red. Scrunching up her nose, she took them off and tucked them away. She would have more time to get used to them later. An already dark room such as this was not the ideal place.

She went to pick up her cane-kind that she had left on the ground in order to inspect the glasses better. As she picked it up, she noticed it had fallen next to what seemed to be a necklace. A necklace that sat in dried teal blood.

Terezi hesitated and her eyes grew wide as she took that in. She looked back up to the noose and back down to the stains on the ground. It was merely a struggle to get the victim into the noose. Just a bit of spilt blood, that was all.

Suddenly the foreboding feeling she felt while entering the place seemed to gain a name. Despite her trying to brush all this evidence away as nothing, she knew that it was all evidence left by corruption. Corruption was what she felt when she entered.

How could her justice, what she _lived_ by, be corrupted? It didn't seem to fit. It made her begin to doubt... everything.

No. She still refused to believe any legislacerator-any ancestor, if one were to exist, could be corrupted. Surely she never would, would she? No. No, this was something more sinister. Someone else caused this.

She quickly picked up the necklace and her cane as and then held it gingerly in front of her to inspect it as well.

It was a delicate silver chain and at the end hung a medallion that Terezi identified instantly as the sign that belonged to Karkat Vantas. It was almost as gray as the color he identified with to hide his blood.

It didn't make sense. Why would this be down here? Horror struck her as she thought that maybe, just maybe, one of her closest friend's bloodline had been a criminal and was the last one here to be hung. Who else would wear this sign? Trolls don't wear each other's signs. It just wasn't _right_.

So what exactly happened here? There was more to this horrendous final trial. And Terezi wanted to piece it together, yet she wanted to forget it all.

She stared at the object in her hands again.

To be socially correct, Terezi knew she should put the artifact back where she had found it. Especially if she wanted to forget any of this ever happened. But she had this feeling that in some odd way, she was meant to have this. She gently clasped it around her neck and tucked it under her collar so no one else would see it. After this adventure was done, she would hide it in her hive somewhere where no one would ever see it. But at least she would know it was there.

Another _ping_ disrupted her thought and Terezi frowned as she pulled out the husktop to find a screen full of cerulean-blue words. She didn't have time to read them all, and it would probably just be a waste of time anyway, so she read the most recent.

AG: Aradia 8etter not get mad over this. I suggested for you to go. I didn't maaaaaaaake you.

AG: What a8out that troll you talk to? The one who hides his 8lood? He's always angry though.

AG: So you're really not there? I thought you were 8etter than this. I didn't think you'd be a stupid little wriggler like your friend pupa pan. At least a more heroic death, maybe.

GC: 1M NOT D34D =[

GC: 4ND 1M NOT 4 WR1GGL3R!

AG: Fiiiiiiiinaaaaaaaally.

AG: What happened to you anyway?

Terezi looked around her again trying to find the words to tell the impatient troll. Sure they were partners, but she didn't want to have Vriska of all people to think that she believed in ancestor stories. Or to find out about the necklace that hung heavy around her neck. She would have to be one of the last ones to know about _that_. Terezi had a feeling that she was guarding a precious secret that held lives at the balance now. A balance that very well could be as dangerous as the balance that her lusus kept.

Staring at the stands and at the lone noose, Terezi couldn't help but feel out of place. This place was not welcoming to any legislacerators.

GC: 1 GOT C4UGHT UP IN 4 TR14L

She blatantly lied.

AG: Seriously? Lame. I should have expected as much from you.

AG: If you're done playing your stupid games, you should meet me. I think I have some trolls who need a taste of justice. ::::)

As much as Terezi wanted to join in on this, and serve justice as it was deserved, she couldn't. The recent events had left her feeling nauseous and confused.

GC: 1TS L4T3 1 SHOULD G3T B4CK.

AG: Whatever. Be a wriggler.

The Libra logged off Trollian and put the glasses on, just to make sure they wouldn't be lost on the way. Picking up her cane-kind, she turned her back to the haunting noose, more determined than ever to fulfill her role as a legislacerator and to not let the corruption that filled the cavern happen again.

.

.

.

**Discovered that Fanfiction doesn't allow 8 question marks in a row... so pretend. **

**I have to say, Terezi is one of my favorite characters. And I like the concept of the Ancestors and how condemned their fates were. So I took that to mix it with how Terezi found her glasses and to shine some light on Terezi and Vriska's partnership as the Scourge Sisters.**

**I decided to avoid darker irony by not having Terezi join Vriska at the end. But bring in aspects of being a seer of mind by wanting to sort through her thoughts first.**

**This actually all started because of a sketch in my notebook of Terezi first inspecting her glasses. It really snowballed...**


End file.
